101–110 of 161 posts
I wonder if there's a way to attract them.
But to build on your idea, a trap that a python can enter but not exit without human assistance could be interesting. You can check the traps periodically and free any native wildlife that happens to enter them.
This might be a bit gruesome, but why not shoot the snakes the on site? That seems way easier and faster than physically wrestling dangerous snakes sometimes bigger than yourself, throwing them in your truck, and shooting them in your garage. Is it just the solemnity? The chance of missing and it escaping and the difficulty of wrestling with a gun?
They get paid per verified kill: https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/python-program No idea how it actually works but shooting them where they are has to be tough to verify.
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It has to be easier to get a dead python into your truck than a live one, right?
Once you bag a snake, they're pretty easy to move around. Getting them into a sack isn't as hard as you might imagine either. Obviously, it's going to be more difficult for a larger snake, but it's way easier than getting, say, a cat into a cat carrier.
Here is an official Florida government source on the humane methods for killing a python. https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/python/humane-... - Your method should result in the animal losing consciousness immediately. - You should then destroy the animal's brain by “pithing” which prevents the animal from regaining consciousness. Looking at the diagram, the head is very small in comparison to the entire b…
I have been hoping for a health improvement so I can go on a guided python hunt. I have read up on it quite a bit. Not only can I get python leather to make a nice wallet, belt, and a pair of boots, but I can do so while doing a small part to curb an invasive species that is wrecking havoc on the ecosystem in South Florida.
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I think a gene drive will be cheaper than all of this manual labor. Release a male python that can only sire male pythons, and population collapse is inevitable. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6083257/
I don't think that can work. Reptiles don't have X and Y chromosomes.
So when can we start writing articles glazing the US's most lethal cat hunters? They're an invasive species in most states and kill billions of native birds every year.
Should we be capturing the large ones, sterilizing them and rereleasing like we do for cats? I wonder how you tag a python as spayed though. No ears.
Domestic cats are an invasive species that decimate the native wildlife. "free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually."[0]
Since we're talking about Florida, this is what their Fish & Game department has to say on the topic:
> * Domestic cats are not a part of Florida’s natural ecosystem. A single individual free-ranging cat may kill 100 or more birds and mammals per year. Scientists in Wisconsin estimate that cats kill at least 7.8 million birds per year in that state alone. Even cats with bells on their collars kill or injure birds and small mammals.
> * Cats compete with native wildlife and can spread disease. Outdoor cats have been identified as the primary host in the transmission of toxoplasmosis to wildlife, a disease which has caused death in manatees and other mammals.
[0]: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380 [1]: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/feral-cats/
This might be a bit gruesome, but why not shoot the snakes the on site? That seems way easier and faster than physically wrestling dangerous snakes sometimes bigger than yourself, throwing them in your truck, and shooting them in your garage. Is it just the solemnity? The chance of missing and it escaping and the difficulty of wrestling with a gun?
My guess is the noise factor even if you consider a suppressor. Sure, you kill 1 python snake. But scare off a half dozen in the near area. Who knows, maybe the gun fire attracts other predators in the glades (alligators?).
Here is an official Florida government source on the humane methods for killing a python. https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/python/humane-... - Your method should result in the animal losing consciousness immediately. - You should then destroy the animal's brain by “pithing” which prevents the animal from regaining consciousness. Looking at the diagram, the head is very small in comparison to the entire b…
Shooting invasive species is definitely legal in Florida assuming that you have permission of the land owner or are otherwise in a location where shooting is allowed (i.e. not in a municipality that bans the gunfire). It has to be done humanely: if you hit the invasive animal, you are responsible for dispatching it as quickly as possible. If you don't dispatch the animal, you can easily run foul of animal cruelty law…